India Microfinance

Citi India last week announced a significant addition to its Mobile receivables solution functionality introduced by the Global Transaction Services business group, with the launch of Citi Cash-To-Mobile Receivables Solution.

Aimed at Corporate and Institutional clients, this market first solution empowers corporate customers to receive funds from retailers or end customers instantly via mobile.

As the first bank to introduce this solution in India, Citi has reinforced its market leadership and innovative edge in the cash market in India. Developed to take advantage of the nascent but fast growing mobile payment flows in the country, Cash-To-Mobile will allow Citi India to tap into the mobile payments segment that is expected to reach US$350 billion by 2015 per industry estimates.

The primary benefactors of this unique proposition are expected to be companies from sectors such as FMCG, Telecom, Media, Healthcare and Travel amongst others.

Speaking at the launch, Sudeep Yadav, Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Services at Citi India said, “Innovation has always been a driving force for our growth and market leadership in India. Citi Cash-To-Mobile aims to provide efficient collections and enhanced transaction control to our clients, while reducing the risk between collection and settlement in a market where businesses are becoming increasingly digitized.”

Key features of Cash-To-Mobile:

— Based on the Interbank Mobile Payment Service managed by the National Payments Corporation of India — Receives funds transfers instantly, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. — Instantly alerts specified client authorized personnel through SMS — Identifies remitters through their mobile number — Automates reconciliation between orders and collections — Provides host to host integration for reports and reconciliation

The Cash-To-Mobile solution is currently being implemented by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCB), the bottling operation of the Coca-Cola Company in India.

Global Transaction Services (GTS) is one of Citi’s largest businesses globally reporting close to $8 billion in revenues globally for the first nine months of 2011.

In Asia Pacific, GTS reported revenues of $2.188 billion and net income of $894 million, the largest net income region for GTS globally. This accounted for 27% of the bank’s $3.35 billion of net income in Asia for the first nine months of 2011 or close to 10% of the bank’s global net income of over $10 billion in the first nine months of 2011.

Client deposits in GTS in Asia Pacific were $125 billion at the end of the third quarter, the largest region for Citi globally. Citi India is the fourth largest contributor to GTS revenues globally and the largest within the Asia-Pacific region.